MARCH 2, 2018 OUR GROUP 23 OF MORNING HOTSHOTS

For years, whenever I reflected on Tradition Three (‘The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking’), I thought it valuable only to newcomers. It was their guarantee that no one could bar them from A.A. Today I feel enduring gratitude for the spiritual development the Tradition has brought me. Charlotte, the atheist, showed me higher standards of ethics and honor; Clay, of another race, taught me patience; Winslow, who is gay, led me by example into true compassion; Young Megan says that seeing me at meetings, sober thirty years, keeps her coming back. Tradition Three insured that we would get what we need – each other.”

1990 AAWS, Inc.

Daily Reflections, pg. 33

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VERNON HOWARD

“Every individual can be free of fear and tension.”

Psycho-Pictography, p. 220

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The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to

Accept the things I cannot change;

Courage to change the things I can;

And the Wisdom to know the difference.

We were now at Step Three.

Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him:

“God, I offer myself to Thee – to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the

bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them

may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy

will always!”

We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon

ourselves utterly to Him.

Seventh Step Prayer

-The Seventh Step Prayer is from page 76. The Big Book

When ready, we say something like this:

“My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now

remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you

and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.”

We have then completed Step Seven.

-(Both derived from page 86 in the Big Book)

St Francis Prayer

-From Chapter 11 of “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions”

“Lord, make me a channel of they peace,

that where there is hatred, I may bring love;

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony

that where there is error, I may bring truth;

that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;

that where there are shadows, I may bring light;

that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;

to understand, than to be understood;

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.”

St. Francis Assisi (1182-1228).

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All the power of the universe is with you.

Feel it, know it, and then act as though it were true.

Ernest Holmes

Today I think I’ll let God write my life for me.

Anonymous

You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die.

Or when. You can decide how you’re going to live. Now.

JOAN BAEZ

Given that true reality (haqiqat) is obscured by forms and appearances, as we have seen, an epistemological question is inevitable: how reliable are intellect and logic as a means of discovering and knowing the real? Can we humans reach certainty about our knowledge and our beliefs? The basic answer for Rumi would be that God, the Real (haqq), reveals itself to humanity through the prophets. But this does not tell us whether we have understood and correctly interpreted the meaning of God’s revelation; after all, there are different interpretations of the Qur’an and sects of Islam.

Your passions lead your reading of Qur’an

How base and bent you make the clear intent

Masnavi 1: 1081

RUMI

ACIM Workbook Lesson 60 Insights

Review of Lessons 46 – 50

This lesson has several very reassuring messages. One that I have come back to many times and use to help me through times of distress is that it is the strength of God in me through which I forgive. I don’t have to try to do it alone. In fact, thinking I am alone is part of what needs to be forgiven. And if I think I am alone, forgiveness is impossible. But through the strength of God in me, all forgiveness of all is not only possible but inevitable.

It is helpful here to remember that the Course defines “forgive” differently than most of us have learned in this world. In the Course, forgiveness means letting go of illusions, or letting go of the past. With the strength of God in me, I can learn to see that whatever I thought happened had absolutely no effect. Through his resurrection, Jesus demonstrated this in the most extreme example. Gratefully we do not need to go to this seeming extreme. Yet any time we perceive ourselves as harmed it is a form of crucifixion. But as I remember that the strength of God is in me, is me, then harm is impossible and so in truth, there is nothing to forgive. So in those times when I feel hurt, my job is to take that perception to the Voice for God and ask for His help to see that in truth, no harm has occurred. This is not possible within the ego thought system, but it is possible with Christ Vision.

Another comforting statement in this lesson is that God speaks to me all through the day. When I allow myself to listen, God’s Voice teaches me that there is only innocence to see and thus nothing to fear. What a marvelous gift God has given us, the gift of joy and perfect peace. It is ours to claim in every moment. We need only accept His Vision. Today I call upon God’s strength to forgive myself and forgive the world. In this alone will I find peace.

This review lesson reminds me of my true strength. There are times when I still think that I can solve “problems” on my own. Sometimes I think I know the answer. This lesson is reminding me to let God solve every concern, every “problem.” This lesson is reminding me to return to my Source and let go making illusions real. Many times this seems very challenging. But it is only through the strength of God in me that I can see that these illusions are not real. The only life I have that is real is the life I live in God. If I am experiencing problems, it is only telling me that I am trying to go off into the wilderness again. When I am in my right mind, I know that there are no problems. Only Love is real. If it is not Love, it is a lesson in Love.

The way to walk through each lesson is to remember that I walk with God. The Voice for God, the Holy Spirit, is there to walk with me through every fearful false idea. As I practice daily stepping back, it gets easier and easier to let the Holy Spirit guide me. The Holy Spirit brings me Christ Vision. The Holy Spirit brings me infinite patience. The Holy Spirit reminds me that everyone is in Heaven now, including me. The Holy Spirit helps me discern between the real and the unreal. The Holy Spirit returns me to Love, my Source, and reminds me that this is what I am. With the Holy Spirit, I can give up making illusions real. I am willing to practice again today.

God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day. It’s always there, a light and warm feeling of joy and happiness. How my day goes depends on how often I follow the path He opens for me, where truly everyone is Friend. Around each turn there is a new Friend, a new communion of joy and laughter, a new miracle of relating, so much more joyous than ever before.

There is a wonderful freedom of knowing that joy is possible, that it is my birthright. That is Who I am. I know that the joy will continue to expand as I continue to listen to that Voice of God that speaks to me all through the day. I feel the forgiveness becoming a part of my experience more and more because I know that the dark path isn’t really there. It’s gone! It doesn’t exist. I know that as I continue this practice of forgiveness the day will come when I can truly look down both paths and see only Light and hear only God’s Voice.

Before I began today’s lesson my mind was focused on two incidents which needed forgiveness. They were there in the back of my mind, bothering me, bringing me down. I realized that one of them centered around my belief that I needed other people to affirm my specialness and they weren’t doing so. The other was all about my need to see someone as less than so that I could see myself as more.

Even understanding what was happening, why I was feeling this way, didn’t help me to forgive. I said the words, but resisted letting it go. What a wonderful gift today’s lessons are to me! I really needed to be reminded that it is God’s Strength which allows me to forgive.

Now it is like I opened my eyes and the world has changed. It is brighter and more beautiful. I feel relieved of an onerous burden. I feel a sense of gratitude that makes me want to laugh out loud.